Ravindra Jadeja. Photo- BCCI
Ravindra Jadeja. Photo- BCCI

Ravindra Jadeja took five wickets in New Zealand’s second innings on Sunday, bringing his total to a record ten wickets (10/120) in the series’ third and final Test at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. India lost the Test by 25 runs to New Zealand and as a result, lost the series 0-3 as well.

Ravindra Jadeja’s outstanding effort kept India’s hopes alive in the third Test against New Zealand, as he took five wickets and helped bowl out the visitors for 174 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

India relied on Ravindra Jadeja’s outstanding spin bowling, which resulted in a match haul of 10 wickets, including five dismissals in each innings.

On day three, New Zealand managed only three runs to their total before Jadeja removed Ajaz Patel for eight. Patel was caught at deep midwicket attempting a slog sweep, giving Jadeja his tenth wicket of the match and ending New Zealand’s innings within minutes of the start.

India was set a target of 147 runs to win the Test and salvage some pride. But apart from Rishabh Pant (64), none of the other India batters withstood New Zealand spinners as they were bowled out for 121 runs and lost the Test by 25 runs, getting whitewashed in the series.

Ravindra Jadeja becomes the second Indian after Ravi Ashwin to take two fifers in the same Test vs New Zealand

Ravindra Jadeja had picked 5/65 in the first innings against New Zealand, keeping them to 235 runs only. With his fifer in the first innings, Jadeja went past Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan (311 Test wickets) in the list for most wickets for India in Tests.

In the second innings, Jadeja’s mastery of spin was crucial on the sharply turning Mumbai pitch, consistently troubling New Zealand’s batting lineup. He picked up 5/55 and completed 10 wickets in the Test match as New Zealand was bowled out for 174 runs.

Jadeja’s performance in this match marked his second-best figures in Test cricket, just shy of his 10/110 against Australia in Delhi in 2023. This is the first time in his career that Jadeja has taken a five-wicket haul in both innings.

Jadeja’s two five-wicket hauls in a single Test made him only the second Indian to do it against New Zealand, after R Ashwin, who did it twice — against Australia in Chennai (2013) and South Africa in Nagpur in 2015.

With this achievement, Jadeja joins an elite group of Indian bowlers who have taken numerous 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket.

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